Catalogue of the Botanical Art Collection at the Hunt Institute
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Accession Number: 6331.1896
Artist Name: SESSÉ & MOCIÑO: Unknown
Life Span: (fl.1787–1803)
Nationality:
Gender: Male
Image (click image to view):
Copyright: To publish this image, please contact the Hunt Institute Art Department.
Credit: The Torner Collection of Sessé and Mociño Biological Illustrations, Courtesy of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
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Description: pottery and grass granary
Medium: watercolor
Support: paper
Dimensions (cm): 31.25 x 21.5
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Notes: This artifact is known in Mexico under the Spanish name "cuescomate" or in Nahautl language "cuezcomatl" [cuez, adobe consisting of clay and dried grass; comitl, pot]. Cuezcomatl is the vasiform grass and daub granary with three overlapping layers of grass forming a conical, skirt-like roof with the inverted ceramic pot that tops the apex; this item is typical of those found in the state of Morelos. It can measure about 3 meters in diameter and 5 meters in height. The gable-like entrance near the top is used to introduce shelled maize but the extraction hole near the base is not visible in the illustration. Two grasses are reported for the construction of the roof: Diectomis fastigiata (Sw.) P. Beauv. (syn.: Andropogon fastigiatus Sw.) and Elyonurus ciliaris Kunth. McVaugh (2000) lists only three species of Andropogon that were grown from seed (originating in Mexico and New Spain) in the Madrid botanical garden. No grasses under the names of Andropogon and Elyonurus are reported in:
Sessé y Lacasta, Martin de, y Jose Mariano Mociño, Flora mexicana (1891-1897) and Plantae Novae Hispaniae (1887-1893).
Information courtesy Robert Bye, Jardín Botanico del Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
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